Method and means for studying rocks throughout borings



tiitixeijz; mm mm: EQQUE? Jan 4 1955 M. SCHLUMBERGER 2,698,733

METHOD AND MEANS FOR STUDYING ROCKS THROUGHOUT BORINGS Filed April 21, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 3

l/VVE/VTU/E: NARCEL SUMO/(BERGER mriim H15 ATTORNEYS Jan. 4, 1955 M. SCHLUMBERGER METHOD AND MEANS FOR STUDYING ROCKS THROUGHOUT BORINGS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 21. 1948 VII/[III]!! Z MN NW N m @M r N A 5 5 a m C R l W United States Patent METHOD AND MEANS FOR STUDYING ROCKS THROUGHOUT BORINGS Marcel Schlnmberger, Paris, France, assignor to Societe de Prospection Electrique Procedes Schlumberger, Paris, France, a corporation of France Application April 21, 1948, Serial No. 22,466

Claims priority, application France April 24, 1947 21 Claims. (Cl. 255-1.4)

My invention has for its object a method and means for defining the nature of the rock layers traversed by a boring throughout the entire height of said boring or only part thereof.

To this purpose, it consists in removing in a continuous or substantially continuous manner from the lateral wall of the untubed part of the boring of which it is desired to ascertain the nature of samples either of the rocks through which the boring is made or of the hydrocarbon impregnating same, after which said samples are stored in the machine in a manner such as to allow defining the depth at which each sample has been removed while subsequent examination of said samples provides data as to the nature of the rocks or fluids impregnating same and corresponding to the different depths.

More specifically my invention has for its object the localization of the oil-containing layers through examination of the samples, as the hydrocarbon imbibing said layers are particularly easy to remove through mere friction along the wall, and to be retained on a support as allowed by the difference between their physical properties and those of the water filling the boring such as capillarity, solubility in paragum and the like, slightly or unvulcanized rubber, for instance, said hydrocarbons being also easily distinguished above ground level by their specific properties withreference to water, such as fluorescence and swelling of rubber parts for instance.

According to my invention, the sampling may be operated by urging locally against the wall of the boring a short element of a member such as a chain, strip, cord or the like carried by a carrier apparatus adapted to move inside the boring, said member moving itself with reference to said apparatus as the latter is being moved over the wall to be studied. The movement of this strip or the like member has for its action to bring in succession into contact with the wall the different parts of said member that consequently carries along with it through frictional contact samples of the wall rocks or of the fluid impregnating same.

In accordance with the invention, the samples removed from the rocks or the sludge may be either retained by the contacting element when the apparatus has been brought above ground for examination in view of defining the nature of said samples or else they may be transferred from the sampling member onto a storing member that is also adapted to move with reference to the supporting apparatus and to be submitted to further mvestigation. In this latter case, the contacting member may be constituted for instance by a wheel rubbing over the wall and transferring them after the samples onto a ribbon, a cord, a thread or the like member adapted to be Wound.

The movement of the element over which are transferred the samples is associated with the displacement of the carrier apparatus inside the boring or else it should at least be suitably defined with reference to the movement of said apparatus in order that the location occupied by each sample on said element may allow defining the level at which it has been removed.

Further objects and features of my invention will appear in the reading of the following description corresponding to accompanying drawings that illustrate diagrammatically by way of example and by no means in a limiting sense two specific embodiments of my invention' In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a general view of an apparatus according to my invention, when sunk inside a boring.

2,698,733 Patented Jan. 4, 1955 Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are diagrams illustrating certain arrangements and certain details of the apparatus.

Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-section of a second embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a cross-section through line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Turning to Fig. l, 1 designates the boring filled with water or sludge and inside which the improved apparatus s caused to move. The latter is suspended by a cable 2 mcluding one or more electric wires, not illustrated, for feeding and controlling as required the electric devices carried inside the apparatus. To this cable is suspended a frame or support 3 carrymg at its ends two spring casings 4 and 5 inside which are housed compressional springs 6 and 7. Inside these spring casings are adapted to slide pistons 8 and 9 to which are pivotally secured respectively a rod 10 and the control mechanism 11 that assumes consequently the position illustrated in the drawing. The rod 10 is pivotally secured in its turn at 12 to the mechanism 11. The compression of the springs 6 and 7 is exerted on the rod 10 and on the mechanism 11 whereby when the frame 3 bears against one wall of the boring, the sampling wheel 13 carried by the apparatus 11 bears with suflicient force ilgall'St the opposite wall of the same boring as illusrate The mechanism 11 includes a casing that opens only at its lower end in front of the location of the wheel 13. Said mechanism casing is previously filled with water so as to prevent the sludge in the boring from entering the mechanism and bringing inside same any fragment of rock or traces of hydrocarbon that have not been removed by the wheel.

The sampler wheel 13 includes a central smooth part 14 cooperating at either side with two toothed parts 15 that prevent the sliding of the wheel over the wall when the apparatus is displaced inside the boring, whereby said Wheel is constrained to roll over said wall. The teeth of the parts 15 are spaced radially inwardly from the periphery of the smooth part 14. When the wheel imbeds itself slightly in the wall of the boring. the teeth of the parts 15 resist sliding motion by the Wheel and cause it to turn more readily.

Said wheel 13 forms the member adapted to remove samples from the wall of the boring. The samples are then transferred onto a cotton or the like suitable thread 17 rubbing over the edge of the Wheel. The thread may also be made of or made to include non-vulcanized rubber, paragum or like materials having a particularly strong affinity for hydrocarbons. To this purpose. said thread passes over a suitable support. As seen in Fig ure 2, the thread rubs against the smooth part 14 of the wheel 13 and does not engage the toothed parts 15.

The wheel is rigid with a cam member 19 (Fig. 3) that assumes the sha e illustrated and the part played u by which is disclosed hereinafter.

According to my invention, when the ap aratus is displaced inside the boring, the wheel 13 rolling over the wall of the boring removes and carries along with it samples of the material forming the Wall of said boring, the wheel 13 rubs against the thread 17 and there are provided as disclosed hereinafter arrangements for displacing said thread 17 in correspondence with the rotation of the wheel and consequently with the travel of the apparatus inside the boring.

The samples removed by the wheel 13 are consequently transferred onto said thread 17 which latter through its movement carries. at the end of the operation, throughout the length of its displacement a succession of samples from the wall of the boring so as to provide a sort of synopsis of the sampling made in the boring.

I will now describe with more particular reference to the diagrammatic Figures 2 and 3 the manner of executing the movement of said thread.

The two ends of the thread 17 are anchored on a reel 20 the location of which appears in dotted lines inside the mechanism 11 in Fig. l and is shown diagrammatically in Figs. 2, 3 and 6.

This reel 20 is arranged longitudinally of the casing of the mechanism 11 and is adapted to rotate round its axis through means to be described hereinafter. The thread 13 one end of which is secured at 21 is wound over said reel so as to form a large number of convolutions. It passes then over one of the arms 22 of a thread guide 22 the control means for which are described later on. The thread passes from the thread uide on to a pulley 23 and is held tensioned by a spring 24. and finallv engages guiding transmitting members not shown in Fig. 2 and passes transversally over a point 25 of the sampling wheel 13. The passage of the thread over the wheel is provided perpendicularly to the edge of the latter. After passing over the wheel the thread returns on to the arm 22" of the thread guide 22 and is rewound over the reel 20. its corresponding end being secured at 26 to the end of said reel that is opposed to the point 21 at which the first end of the thread is secured. It will be readily ascertained that, when the reel rotates. the thread guide 22 is to move in parallelism with said reel to assume a movement that is in synchronism with that of the latter and the thread unwinds as it passes over one of the arms of the thread guide and is rewound as it passes over the other arm: in other words one str nd f the thread is being wound on the reel while the other is being unwound. When the reel rotates and the thread guide moves in parallelism with the axis of said r el. all the ortions of the thread starting from the part adiacent to the end 21 of said thread will pass in succession over the wheel. including finally the part of the thread adjacent to its end 26.

Fig. 3 sh ws how it is possible to control in the example illustrated the rotary movement of the reel and the move ment of the thre d guide. said mo ements being controlled by the rolling of the sampling wheel over the wall of the boring. In the example illustrated. it is desired to move the thread in a manner such that when the sampling wheel rolls over the wall of the boring throu h a distance of say 1 meter. the thread moves over the wheel throu h a dis ce of about 1 centime er for inst nce. It is thus possible for instance to obt in on the thread a picture of the b rin on a scale of l/ 100, each centimeter of thread receiving the samples removed from one meter of wall.

The sampling wheel 13 carries as stated herein bove a cam 19 hat is f r i tance of the three proiection cam tvpe as illustrated in Fig. 3. This c m acts on a bent rod 27 that acts in turn on a bell crank 28 pivotallv secured at 29 to the frame of the apparatus and urged back into its normal osition. in o position t the action of the bent rod 27, by the spring 30. This be l crank acts through the a ency of a f rk 31 on a stud 32 carried by a sort of ratchet wheel 33 rotating round an axis coaxial with the axis of the wheel 20. Each time the c m 19 acts on the rod 27. that is three times per revolution of the wheel 13, the bell crank 28 moves and produces a corresponding reci rocating m vement of the stud 32 and conseouently of the ratchet wheel 33. At each of the impulses thus produced. the ratchet wheel 33 acmates through the catch svstem 34 the shaft of the reel and causes it to rotate through an amo nt corres onding to the displacement of the stud 32. The reel 20 is c nsequently constrained at each revolution of the heel 13 to assume three sli ht rotary movements. The shaft of the reel 20 carries a pinion 35 meshing with a further pinion 36 carried on a long threaded spindle or rod 37 meshing with a tanning in said pinion s as to c nstrain the thread uide 22 to move over said threaded rod 37 in parallelism with the axis of the reel 20.

The transmission ratio between said different parts is desi ned in a manner such that the disp cement of the thread guide in parallelism with the reel 20 m y be o erated in accord nce with the normal unwinding of the thread over said reel.

Fig. 6 illustrates a declutching device adapted to disconnect the control of the rotation of the reel under the action of the wheel each time this may be necessary or advantageous, in particular during the downward movement of the apparatus inside the boring and before or after the sampling operation. This declutching arrangement is controlled electrically from above ground and includes chiefly an electromagnetic system 38 that when energized attracts inside the coil the core 39 connected through a rod with the ratchet wheel 33 controlling the intermittent rotation of the reel. A return spring 41 urges normally said ratchet wheel into its operative position. When the circuit of the coil 38 is closed and the core 39 is attracted upwardly, the ratchet wheel 33 is raised and is no longer in engagement with the catch system 34 so that the intermittent rotation of the ratchet wheel no longer produces any rotation of the reel and consequently any movement of the thread. The core 39 is connected, as shown in Fig. 6 with a thread guide 18, whereby at the moment of the disconnection said thread guide is drawn upwardly by the core so that the thread 17 is moved away from the sampling wheel. This arrangement has for its object to prevent any wear of the thread at the point at which it is in contact with the wheel, when said thread is inoperative.

When the apparatus is being lowered into the inside of the boring before sampling, it is desirable to protect the wheel against the sludge in said boring, and to this purpose there is provided as illustrated in Fig. 5 a protective arrangement for the wheel, which is constituted for instance by a mere folded metal sheet 42 pivotally mounted on the axis of the wheel 13. The sheet 42 is initially positioned so that during said lowering movement it lies in front of the wheel as shown in dot and dash lines and protects the wheel against the friction of the wall while on the contrary when the apparatus is raised for removing the samples said sheet is moved by friction against the wall of the hole into the position illustrated in solid lines.

The apparatus according to my invention may also be associated with one or more further devices adapted to define readily the correspondence between the depth of the boring at which a sample has been removed and the corresponding part of the thread carrying said sample. This device is constituted for instance as shown in Fig. 4 by a marking member 44 controlled electrically from above ground through the agency of an electromagnetic system 45 in order to make an impression on the thread at intervals corresponding to different depths of apparatus position inside the boring, which depths are defined in their turn in any suitable manner for instance through mere observation above ground of the length of unwinding of the cable supporting the apparatus.

I will now disclose the operation of the apparatus that has been described:

The thread being positioned as disclosed with reference to Fig. 2 and the thread guide 22 being located at the end of the reel that corresponds to the beginning of the unwinding of the thread, the apparatus is lowered inside the boring down to the desired depth, care being taken to protect the wheel by suitably positioning the protecting metal sheet 42 as shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 5, and also to disconnect the thread-controlling system through operation of the electromagnet 3839. When the position is reached inside the boring at which the measuring is to begin, the apparatus is slightly shifted upwardly so as to rock the wheel-protecting sheet 42 and to allow the wheel 13 to rub against the wall. The disconnecting arrangement is released then by opening the circuit in the electromagnetic coil in order to restore the mechanical connection between the movement of the reel and that of the wheel. The whole system is then raised gradually throughout the height of the boring from the wall of which the continuous sampling is to be made. When this height has been entirely swept by the appa ratus, the reel is again disconnected and the apparatus is raised above ground. During the operative period impressions are made on the thread at certain depths of operation that are measured as disclosed by any suitable known means and this allows establishing a correspondence between the depths reached and the different portions of the thread. It should be remarked furthermore that normally the unwinding of the thread is operated at a known speed depending on the rate of rolling of the wheel over the wall of the boring and consequently on the speed of the apparatus in the boring, which provides thus a first correspondence between the position of the operative point of the thread and the depth at which the apparatus is located inside the boring.

The above disclosed thread-impressing system allows checking said correspondence.

When the apparatus has been raised above ground, it is sufiicient to examine the thread throughout its length in order to examine the samples carried along by it and in particular to ascertain the points at which mineral oil may be found. At these points, the thread impregnated with oil will show characteristic fluorescent effects allowing defining the location of the oil layers.

These fluorescent effects may be caused to appear through any suitable means adapted for the successive examination of the different parts of the thread.

In the case where it is desired to ascertain no longer the points at which oil layers may be found, but those providing an evolution of gas or light hydrocarbons, it is possible according to my invention to substitute for the cotton thread a thread of para gum capable as well known of absorbing hydrocarbon gases and also light gasoline and of swelling at the points at which such an absorption is made. According to the invention, it is also possible if required to provide inside the said apparatus both a cotton thread and a para gum thread, said' threads being unwound simultaneously and allowing consequently the simultaneous detection of the layers producing oil and of the layers producing gas.

The arrangement shown in Figs. 7 and 8 differs from the arrangement described as illustrated in the preceding figures through the fact that the member rubbing against the wall is no longer a sampling wheel but is constituted by the thread itself.

As shown in said Figures 7 and 8, the thread 17 that operates moreover with a winding device somewhat similar to that of the preceding figures is guided over a grooved wheel 46 adapted to rotate loosely inside the casing of the mechanism while projecting slightly outwardly at 47 through an opening provided for this purpose inside said casing.

The thread as it passes over the part 47 of the grooved wheel moves outside the casing and rubs against the wall 48 of the boring. The depth of the groove in the wheel 46 is sufficient for the partial protection of the thread While preventing thereby said thread from wearing to a too marked degree, which might lead to its breaking as it moves over the wall of the boring.

Of course various modifications may be brought to the arrangement described without unduly widening the scope of the invention as defined in accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. A method for examining the nature of the rocks through which a boring is made comprising moving a hydrocarbon-responsive member through the boring in a first motion and imparting a second motion to the member to cause different portions of the member to rub successively against the wall of the boring throughout a range of different levels, respectively, of the rocks to be studied so that member portions subjected to hydrocarbon samples that may imbibe the wall of the boring will be influenced thereby, and returning said member to the surface for examination of the samples carried by said member.

2. An arrangement for studying the nature of the rock layers through which a boring is made comprising an apparatus adapted to move inside the boring, means carried by said apparatus and adapted to remove through contact a sample of the wall of the boring at the point at which it has been in contact with said wall, said means including a member of textile material for holding said sample movable relatively to the apparatus to engage successively the samples which it holds, means for lowering the apparatus inside the boring and raising it again above ground and means for urging the sampling means against the wall of the boring at predetermined points thereof.

3. An arrangement for studying the nature of the rock layers throu h which a boring is made comprising an a paratus adapted to move inside the boring, means carried by said a paratus and adapted to remove throu h contact a sample of the wall of the boring at the point at whi h it has been in contact with said wall, said means including a member of para gum for holding said sam le movable relativelv to the apparatus to engage successively the samples which it holds. means for lowering the apparatus inside the boring and raisin it again above round and means for ur ing the sam ling means against the wall of the boring at predetermined p ints thereof.

4. An arrangement for examining the different layers throu h which a borin has been made by a samplin of the material forming the wall of said boring comprising a support adapted to move inside the boring throughout the height to be examined, a thread adapted to remove through contact and to retain samples of substances forming the wall of the boring when set in contact therewith, means carried by the support inside the latter adapted to wind and unwind the thread, guiding means between which a portion of the thread that islbeing wound and unwound is held on the outside of the support, means carried by the support for urging constantly said part of the thread on the outside of the support against the wall of the boring for constraining successive sections of the moving thread to remove samples from the different successive points of the boring wall and means for moving the support throughout the length of the part of the boring to be examined.

5. An arrangement for examining the layers through which a boring is made by a sampling of the material forming the wall of said boring comprising a support, means for shifting the support throughout the height of the boring to be studied and for lowering said support into and raising it out of the boring, a wheel carried by said support and adapted to remove through contact and to retain samples of the material forming the wall of the boring, a thread adapted to move over the edge of the wheel, means for urging the wheel against the wall of the boring, and means carried by the support for constraining the different points of the thread to pass in succession in contact with the wheel over the edge thereof in correspondency with the vertical movements of the support inside the boring.

6. An arrangement for examining the layers through which a boring is made by a sampling of the material forming the wall of said boring comprising a support, means for shifting the support throughout the height of the boring to be studied and for lowering said support into and raising it out of the boring, a wheel carried by said support and adapted to remove through contact and to retain samples of the material forming the wall of the boring, a thread of textile material adapted to move over the edge of the wheel, means for urging the wheel against the wall of the boring, and means carried by the support for constraining the different points of the thread to pass in succession in contact with the wheel over the edge thereof in correspondency with the vertical movements of the support inside the boring.

7. An arrangement for examining the layers through which a boring is made by a sampling of the material forming the wall of said boring comprising a support, means for shifting the support throughout the height of the boring to be studied and for lowering said sup ort into and raising it out of the boring, a wheel carried by said support and adapted to remove through contact and to retain samples of the material forming the wall of the boring, a thread of non-vulcanised rubber adapted to move over the edge of the wheel, means for urging the wheel against the wall of the boring, and means carried by the support for constraining the different points of the thread to pass in succession in contact with the wheel over the edge thereof in corresnondency with the vertical movements of the support inside the boring.

8. An arrangement for examining the layers through which a boring is made by a sampling of the material forming the wall of said boring comprising a support, means for shifting the support throughout the height of the boring to be studied and for lowering said support into and raising it out of the boring, a wheel carried by said support and adapted to remove through contact and to retain samples of the material forming the wall of the boring, a thread adapted to move over the edge of the wheel, means for urging the wheel against the wall of the boring. means carried by the support for constraining the different points of the thread to pass in succession in contact with the wheel over the edge thereof in correspondency with the vertical movements of the support inside the boring and means for defining the different points of the thread cooperating with the wheel at different moments in corresnondency with the vertical locations of the support inside the boring.

9. An arrangement for examining the material forming the wall of a boring comprising a support adapted.

to engage said boring. means for displacing said support longitudinally inside the boring, sampling means carried by said support and adapted to remove through friction samples of the material forming the wall of the boring, means carried by the support for storing the samples removed by last mentioned means, the samples removed by the first mentioned means being transferred on to different points of said storing means, means for defining the location of the points on the storing means in accordance with the depth of removal of the samples transferred on to said points, the samples carried by the storing means being examined after the return of the support above ground.

10. An arrangement for examining the layers of rock forming the wall of a boring comprising a supporting member adapted to be moved inside the boring in register with the different levels to be studied, sampling means carried by said supporting member and adapted to frictionally remove samples from the wall of the boring, storing means arranged on the supporting member, means for transferring samples removed by the sampling means at different levels on to different corresponding locations of the storing means and means for defining the position of the different points of the storing means in correspondency with the level from which the samples transferred to said points have been removed.

11. A sampling device for use in borings comprising a support, means for controlling its longitudinal position inside the boring, a strip and a reel system associated therewith for winding and unwinding said strip, carried by the support, means carried by the support for sampling material from the point of the wall of the boring registering with the location of the support and transferring them on to a point of the strip, means urging last mentioned sampling means yieldingly against the wall of the boring and means operatively connecting the support and the reel system whereby the location of the support inside the boring defines the point on the strip at which the sample removed in front of said location is transferred on to said strip.

12. A sampling device for use in borings comprising a support, means for controlling its longitudinal position inside the boring, a strip and a reel system associated therewith for winding and unwinding said strip, carried by the support, a wheel carried by the support and adapted to roll round a horizontal axis for sampling material on the wall of the boring registering with the location of the support, yielding means inserted between the support and the wheel for urging the latter into contact with the boring wall, means for urging the strip against the wheel for providing the transfer of the sampled material removed by the wheel on to the point of the endless strip registering at the moment considered with the wheel and means controlling the reel system for causing the strip to progress according to a predetermined law as a function of the location of the support inside the boring.

13. A sampling device for use in borings comprising a support, means for controlling its longitudinal position inside the boring, a strip and a reel system associated therewith for winding and unwinding said strip, carried by the support, a wheel carried by the support and adapted to roll round a horizontal axis for sampling material on the wall of the boring registering with the location of the support, yielding means inserted between the support and the wheel for urging the latter into contact with the boring wall, means for urging the strip against the wheel for providing the transfer of the sampled material removed by the wheel on to the point of the endless strip registering at the moment considered with the wheel and means controlled by the rolling of the wheel over the surface of the boring wall for controlling the operation of the reel system and constraining the strip to register with the wheel through a point thereof that progresses over the length of the strip in proportion with the progression of the wheel over the wall of the boring.

14. A sampling device for use in borings comprising a support, means for controlling its longitudinal position inside the boring, a strip and a reel system associated therewith for winding and unwinding said strip, carried by the support, a wheel carried by the support and adapted to roll round a horizontal axis for sampling material on the wall of the boring registering with the location of the support, yielding means inserted between the support and the wheel for urging the latter into contact with the boring wall, means for urging the strip against the wheel for providing the transfer of the sampled material removed by the wheel on to the point of the endless strip registering at the moment considered with the wheel, a cam controlled by said wheel and a ratchet system controlled periodically by the rotation of said cam and adapted to provide a stepwise progression of the reel system and strip associated therewith.

15. A sampling device for use in borings comprising a support, means for controlling its longitudinal position inside the boring, a strip and a reel system associated therewith for winding and unwinding said strip, carried by the support, a wheel carried by the support and adapted to roll round a horizontal axis for sampling material on the wall of the boring registering with the location of the support, yielding means inserted between the support and the wheel for urging the latter into contact with the boring wall, means for urging the strip against the wheel for providing the transfer of the sampled material re moved by the wheel on to the point of the endless strip registering at the moment considered with the wheel, means controlled by the rolling of the wheel over the surface of the boring wall for controlling the operation of the reel system and constraining the strip to register with the wheel through a point thereof that progresses over the length of the strip in proportion with the progression of the wheel over the wall of the boring and an electromagnetic device adapted to disconnect last mentioned means and to shift simultaneously the strip away from the wheel.

16. A sampling device for use in borings comprising a support, means for controlling its longitudinal position inside the boring, a strip and a reel system associated therewith for winding and unwinding said strip, carried by the support, a wheel carried by the support and adapted to roll round a horizontal axis for sampling material on the Wall of the boring registering with the location of the support, yielding means inserted between the support and the wheel for urging the latter into contact with the boring wall, means for urging the strip against the wheel for providing the transfer of the sampled material removed by the wheel on to the point of the endless stirp registering at the moment considered with the wheel, means controlled by the rolling of the wheel over the surface of the boring wall for controlling the operation of the reel system and constraining the strip to register with the wheel through a point thereof that progresses over the length of the strip in proportion with the progression of the wheel over the wall of the boring, and means for preventing the contact between the wheel and the wall of the boring during the inoperative movement of the support.

17. A sampling device for use in borings comprising a support, means for controlling its longitudinal position inside the boring, a strip and a reel system associated therewith for winding and unwinding said strip, carried by the support, a wheel carried by the support and adapted to roll round a horizontal axis for sampling material on the wall of the boring registering with the location of the support, yielding means inserted between the support and the wheel for urging the latter into contact with the boring wall, means for urging the strip against the wheel for providing the transfer of the sampled material removed by the wheel on to the point of the endless strip registering at the moment considered with the wheel and means controlled by the rolling of the wheel over the surface of the boring wall for controlling the operation of the reel system and constraining the strip to register with the wheel through a point thereof that progresses over the length of the strip in proportion with the progression of the wheel over the wall of the boring and means for impressing the strip at intervals for defining the depth of the support inside the boring corresponding to the different points of the strip thus impressed that are operative at the moment considered.

18. A sampling device for use in borings comprising a support, means for controlling its longitudinal position inside the boring, a strip and a reel system associated therewith for winding and unwinding said strip carried by the support, a wheel carried by the support and adapted to roll round a horizontal axis and over which the strip is wound and means for urging the wheel and strip carried thereby into contact with the boring wall for removing samples of said wall on to the point of the strip held between the wall and the wheel and constraining said strip to progress with the wheel as the latter rolls over the boring wall.

19. In apparatus for studying the nature of the rocks and formations traversed by a borehole into the earth comprising a carrier adapted to be moved through the borehole and controlled from the surface of the earth, a wound flexible member mounted within the carrier, said member being constructed and arranged to pick up and carry specimens of material traversed by the borehole, reel means within the carrier operable as a function of carrier motion through the borehole, said reel means including unwinding and rewinding means for the member,

and means for bringing the portion of the member between the unwinding and rewinding means into engagement with samples from successive places along the length of the borehole.

20. In apparatus for examining the nature of the rocks and formations traversed by a borehole, comprising, a member adapted to retain oil through capilarity, a carrier for said member for moving the latter through the borehole, and means responsive to movement of the carrier through the borehole for moving the member relatively to the carrier to bring successive portions of the member into contact with samples from successive points along the length of the borehole.

21. A method of examining the nature of formations through which a boring is made comprising moving a fluid absorbent member through the boring in a translatory first motion while imparting a second motion to the member to cause successive portions thereof to engage samples, which may include imbibed fluids, from successive longitudinally spaced portions of the wall of the boring to be studied, thereby transferring any fluid samples which might be present to said member for absorption thereby, and returning the said member to the surface of the earth for examination of the samples carried by the member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,013,457 Burt Sept. 3, 1935 2,053,698 Church Sept. 8, 1936 2,315,629 Le Bus Apr. 6, 1943 2,326,405 Spencer Aug. 10, 1943 2,422,852 Ratclitfe June 24, 1947 

